A prominent conservative US appeals court judge resigned from the largest association of federal judges after it spoke up in defense of judges who’ve been slammed and threatened by the Trump administration for blocking its initiatives.
U.S. Circuit Judge James Ho, who was appointed by Republican President Donald Trump and is seen as a potential U.S. Supreme Court nominee, at a Saturday night event hosted by the conservative Federalist Society took issue with a rare public statement issued by the Federal Judges Association.
In a statement on Wednesday, the 1,100-member group said recent events had provided “a clear and urgent reminder that federal judges play a crucial role in upholding our democracy as guardians of the rule of law.”
The group did not cite any specific cases, individuals or threats as it warned about “irresponsible rhetoric shrouded in disinformation,” security concerns and the risk of “erosion in the independence of the judiciary.”
But the group issued the statement as billionaire Elon Musk and other Trump administration allies have publicly ramped up efforts to discredit judges who stand in the way of White House efforts to slash federal jobs and programs, including by calling for the impeachment of some.
U.S. Circuit Judge Michelle Childs, the FJA’s president and an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, in a message to her group’s members sent a day before Wednesday’s public statement went further, saying the “judiciary faces growing threats, including violence, intimidation, disinformation, and unprecedented impeachments that challenge its independence.”
Ho, a member of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, described the statement as out-of-character for the FJA and said it reflected a “selective” concern for judicial independence that could come off as “sanctimonious.”
“I was very surprised by that statement, and the next morning I sent an e-mail to the organization saying that I wanted to resign,” Ho told an audience at the Federalist Society’s National Student Symposium at the University of Michigan Law School.
He said the group never issued a similar statement following “attacks” on conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court like Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who prosecutors say was the subject of an assassination attempt in 2022 following the leak of a draft of the eventual ruling ending the nationwide right to abortion.
“You can’t say that you’re in favor of judicial independence only when it comes to decisions that you like,” Ho said. “That’s not protecting the judiciary, that’s politicizing the judiciary.”
The FJA did not respond to a request for comment.
(With inputs from Reuters)
